The Mission Paradox Blog

Jumping a low bar AKA "Aim Higher"

If all you want is sales, you are setting your ambitions way too low.

Speaking as a guy that has sold millions (literally millions) of dollars worth of tickets to the live performing arts, please trust me when I tell you that the desire to just sell tickets (or paintings, or whatever) is the lowest form of ambition.

If you want to make something that just sells go make toothpaste, or porn, or some other thing that people actually use on a daily basis.

This thing, this ART thing, has to be about something more then that.  If all it boils down to is an economic transation (I give you X dollars, you give me Y art) then we will always lose in the long run because art is a horrible economic transaction.

Aim higher.

Aim for joy.  Aim for taking each element of what you do (the marketing, the fundraising, the art itself) and see if you can use it to deliver a little joy into people's lives.

And when I say deliver it to people, I don't mean everyone.  I mean your list, your tribe, the people who have expressed a desire to hear from you.  

Do you really think those people asked to hear from you because they want to be sold something?  Don't get me wrong, they don't mind being sold, but that isn't the point of the exercise.

Aim higher.

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I'm at first rehearsal for the next play at my day job.  My title says "Director of Marketing" but right now selling tickets is as far from my mind as it can be.

I'm listening to the stories being told by the director of the piece and the ED of the theatre.  Wonderful stories about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the process of producing great theatre.

I'm feeling the energy in the room.  The hopefulness.  Something is beginning.  A journey is starting. That's always a powerful moment.

I'm trying to figure out how we can deliver these stories and that energy to our people.  I'm thinking about how all in the stuff in the marketing toolbox (social media, direct mail, whatever) can be help me in that goal.

Maybe if people feel that energy and get caught up in the journey they will come see the show.

Or maybe they will not.  Whatever.  It's still worth doing.

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I know this is going to sound like a Zen riddle but here goes:

The best way to sell art is by not worrying about the sale.

When a person decides to buy a ticket, or a sculpture, or visit a museum, they are doing it for a wide variety of reasons.  Some of these reasons are expressed, MANY of them are unexpressed and I (nor you) will ever understand all of them.

But what I can do and what I think we must do, is see these people as PEOPLE.  Not numbers on a budget line, not freakin' butts in seats (a phrase I'm learning to hate), but as actual people.

Let's use our marketing (and our fundraising and our outreach AND our community relations) to make these people laugh, or cry, or think.  Let's make sure that is as much a part of the mix as the actual sales process.

I know that's a high bar.  I'm still trying to reach it myself.  At my worst moments, I can easily see numbers on a page and not people.  But I know that's not good enough, even if the numbers get reached.

I can do better then that.

We can do better then that.

Aim higher.

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The 100 Best

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When I'm working with artists or arts organizations, I often start with this question:

Who are your 100 best customers?

By that I mean who are the 100 people who ALWAYS show up for a production? 

Who are the 100 people who always pick up your stuff when you put it in the Etsy shop? 

Who are the people that you KNOW would donate to your Kickstarter campaign?

If you ponder this question for a while, you may realize something:

You actually have best customers!

Maybe not a 100 people.  Maybe it's only 50, or 20.  But right now you probably have a few people, outside of friends and family, who are really supportive of what you do.

A huge part of good marketing is recognizing, rewarding and cultivating those people.

One of our greatest sins in the arts is that we spend a lot of time trolling for new bodies and much less time (and money) showing that we notice and care about those who are already involved in our work.

I understand why we do this.  A life in the arts is often a life in constant pursuit of more.  More bodies.  More grants.  More money.

But consider what could happen if you spent more of your time interacting with and engaging your current audience and then trusted them to do the hard work of bringing more people to your art.

You take care of them, they spread the word about the art.  Great companies are built on this principle.  Starbucks didn't advertise for YEARS.  Zappos built a billion dollar brand on delivering good customer service and then letting those customers rave about the company.

If it worked for them, it could work for you.

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Since 2007, I've had a very simple goal, to help people connect their art to an audience.  In that spirit, this blog has been a place where I talk about all the things that are necessary for that to happen.  On this blog, you'll find thoughts on marketing, leadership, management and innovation.  

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